All thoughts leave my mind as I take what I’ve craved for so long. I know Autumn is more than the way her mouth and body are shaped, but right now, as I crush that body to my chest and taste that perfect mouth, all I can think about is how good she feels against me.

Autumn wrenches her lips from mine. She staggers back as I let her go, swaying slightly before steadying herself. I wait for her to slap me, or at the very least walk away from me. But she doesn’t run. Instead, she stands there, lips blushing from my rough kiss, looking more beautiful than she ever has before.

She’s the first to break the silence, and what she says is not what I expect. “Why haven’t you come back? All of you? We’re supposed to be best friends, but most days it’s like you’re a stranger.”

I run a shaky hand over my eyes. “I know. Don’t you think I know?”

“But why?” Her voice is eerily calm, despite the fact that I just forced myself on her. “Is…is it me?”

I grab her thin upper arms, so small and delicate in my strong hands. “Never say that.”

“Then what?”

My words die on my lips. “No. I can’t. I won’t do this again.”

“Won’t do what again? What are you talking about?” Her fists land harmlessly on my chest when I don’t answer. “Tell me, or let me go!”

With a hard tug, she wrenches her arms free from my grasp. When she turns to leave, something hard and inflexible snaps clean apart inside my chest.

“I told you never to walk away from me again, like when you walked off with a jerk and killed my heart.” I look away as my voice grows hoarse. “You never looked back, so why should I?”

Her eyes are wild as they meet mine. A flurry of emotions fleet across her face until it settles into granite.

“Your heart? You left me high and dry without a single goodbye! I’ve never forgiven you. Never.”

Her body shakes as she draws a breath, her chin lifting for battle.

“Didn’t you know that I wanted more than friendship? But you clearly weren’t interested, so I found other guys who were. And now, after all this time, you waltz back into my life and want me to forgive everything? To pretend like you’re not holding back?”

Her lip begins to tremble as she jabs a finger into my chest.

“Well, if you’re just too plain scared, then I’ll find some other guy to be with.”

A man can only be pushed so far. And that final taunt pushed me a million miles past my limit.

Autumn takes a step back when I step toward her. “What are you doing?”

“You’re not going to find some other guy.” I grab her wrist and crush her to my chest. Her lips part as mine hover over them. “Unless that guy is me.”

My mouth comes down on hers, hard and demanding. I expect Autumn to pull back from my assault like she did before, but she doesn’t. She meets my crushing kiss with a ferocity of her own. Her lips suck while I bite at hers. Then hers biting as I tangle my tongue with hers. One of her hands is caught between our chests, but the other reaches up and tangles in my hair, pulling me closer if it’s even possible.

She tastes like a dangerous mixture of sugar and rich whiskey. And the curves pressing against my chest are begging my hands and mouth to explore.

She moans as I draw back, suddenly and quickly, as I realize what I’m doing. I step back while I still have control.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” I say in a voice ravaged with guilt. Knowing I’m seconds away from losing it again unless I put some distance between us, I turn to go.

Autumn’s arms lace around my neck and stop my retreat. Her fingers leave a searing trail of pure heat as they trace the contours of my neck. I can barely breathe as they glide into my hair at the base of my neck and tug.

“Do you want me?” she asks in a voice made raw by desire, making no attempt to stamp it out. Shining eyes, flushed cheeks, lips parted just so. I can’t lie and pretend that I don’t want her more than any other woman in the world. It takes everything in me not to yank her back into my arms and taste every inch of that soft skin.

“Yes, but—”

“Then stop goddamn apologizing and kiss me.”

She stifles my next words with her mouth, rocking onto her toes as she yanks my hair. The mixture of pleasure and pain sends a thrill of desire coursing through me, and without warning or regret, I hurtle over the edge of control.

I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her to my chest. She gasps into my mouth as her toes leave the ground—shocked, then excited, as I hold her captive. Her tongue crashes against mine and twists, tasting every crevasse of my mouth as I taste hers. I can’t get enough. I will never get enough. So I dive into the girl I’ve loved like no other.

This kiss is even more intoxicating than the ones before as I slow myself down and begin to learn the curves of her mouth. Pure pleasure whips through me as I draw her full bottom lip between my teeth, and the sounds Autumn makes as my tongue draws over hers has me struggling to keep a lid on the wild heat lashing through me.

We pull apart reluctantly. Based on the way Autumn’s clinging to my shirt and how my arms refuse to leave her waist, I’d say very reluctantly.

“I’ve wanted this for so long,” she says, resting her forehead against my chin. I look down and see a soft smile grow on her lips, still red from exploring mine. “So very long.”

“You have?”

She nods and nestles into me, her cheek coming to rest on my chest with a contented sigh. My heart nearly leaps from my chest as I stare down at the woman in my arms.

“You’re why I stayed away,” I say, burying my cheek into the tendrils of her dark hair. It’s softer and sweeter than I ever could have dreamed. “I didn’t know how to keep being your friend when I wanted more. So I left.”

“Well, don’t leave me again,” she whispers.

“Never. You have me.” I tighten my hold around her as a wave of protectiveness surges through me. I close my eyes and breathe her in. I’ve never felt this possessive about any woman, but then again, Autumn isn’t just any woman. She’s mine.

We stay entwined for what feels like moments, but the subtle nip to the air when we draw apart tells me that the afternoon has silently slipped into evening. Her gaze won’t settle as she draws in a breath.

“Where do we go from here?” she asks, and I know she doesn’t mean her concert tonight.

“I don’t know.” I hook a finger under her chin and raise it. “But I do know one thing.”

She lifts her wide eyes to mine. “What?”

I reach down and take her hand, lacing my fingers with hers before gently bringing them to my lips. “Wherever it is, we’ll go there together.”